Steering collumn too short???

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wes beem

wes beem

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Trying to reassemble my 71 duster and the collumn that i pulled from the car myself is now somehow 2-3" too short when bolted back in exactly where it goes....

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If you didn’t convert from power to manual steering the inner shaft telescopes in in the event of a collision and is held in place only by extruded plastic pins. It‘s not uncommon for them to break with very little force just pull the inner shaft out to mate the coupler up to the steering box.
 
You probably just compressed the collapsible column- the plastic shear pins probably snapped. Just pull the shaft back out 2-3".
 
Fixed....the coupler joint itself somehow got compressed way higher than it should have been, had to hammer it back down.
 
What's the general protocol when the nylon pin shears? Set the shaft length and run it as is?
I installed a steel roll pin in mine but that kinda defeats the collapsible safety feature.
 
DC Dart said:
What's the general protocol when the nylon pin shears? Set the shaft length and run it as is?
I installed a steel roll pin in mine but that kinda defeats the collapsible safety feature.
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On mine, I set the length, drilled through both locations, pinned it with nylon screws, and trimmed them flush. I'm not sure it's even necessary though. It made sleep better though I guess.
 
mopowers said:
On mine, I set the length, drilled through both locations, pinned it with nylon screws, and trimmed them flush. I'm not sure it's even necessary though. It made sleep better though I guess.
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Great idea actually. I wouldn’t say it’s quite a replacement for the plastic shear pins, but much better than nothing. I may have to duplicate your idea.
 
MidnightSwinger said:
Great idea actually. I wouldn’t say it’s quite a replacement for the plastic shear pins, but much better than nothing. I may have to duplicate your idea.
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I could be wrong, but I don't think the factory even used actual "pins" per-se. I think the two locations were injected with melted plastic that solidified when cooled. Hell, you could probably do the same thing with some liquid epoxy or something similar in a syringe.
 
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The old plastic or whatever it is likely gets old and brittle with age.
 
mopowers said:
I could be wrong, but I don't think the factory even used actual "pins" per-se. I think they two locations were injected with melted plastic that solidified when cooled. Hell, you could probably do the same thing with some liquid epoxy or something similar in a syringe.
Click to expand...
Im not sure, I just remembered the rebuild kit Mopar use to offer. I thought it was a rivet or pin.

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